A WOMAN who died of a massive bleed following a mastectomy at a Dublin hospital was wrongly treated for a urinary tract infection, an inquest has heard.
Olive Murphy (71), Cloran, Athboy, Co Meath, underwent a successful and uneventful mastectomy for breast cancer with no excessive bleeding at the Mater hospital on July 7th, 2009.
She was well the next day and consultant surgeon Maurice Stokes was happy. Ms Murphy became profoundly unwell on the morning of July 9th and suffered a heart attack at about 7.30am.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said yesterday it was a post-operative complication, recording a verdict of death by medical misadventure.
A wound care committee had been established at the hospital as a result of this case which was in the process of drawing up guidelines, solicitor for the hospital John Gleeson said.
Civil proceedings had already been instituted and liability had been admitted, the inquest heard.
Dr Caroline Hernon, who discussed the case with the medical registrar on call, had reviewed Ms Murphy and concluded she had an infection, most probably a urinary tract infection. Ms Murphy, who had started again on the anti-clotting medication Warfarin on the evening of July 8th, was treated with an antibiotic. Dr Hernon told the inquest she examined Ms Murphy’s chest and did not see evidence of a haematoma, a localised collection of blood in the tissue.
Asked by counsel for the Murphy family, Jerry Healy, whether hypovolaemia or blood loss would have been suspected in a woman on anti-clotting medication after surgery, Mr Stokes said it would have been “top of my list”. He said it was common following a mastectomy to have a bleed, but it was not usually that serious.
Ms Murphy’s husband Michael, her son and her two sisters attended the inquest. Afterwards, her sister Eileen Castle said: “Hopefully it will never happen to anyone else and they will put some policy in place.”